


Instincts

by telperion_15



Category: Primeval
Genre: Angst, Animal Instincts, Blood, Creature Attack, Dark, Disturbing Themes, Established Relationship, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Shared Universe, Vampires, Violence, Vomiting, house!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-18
Updated: 2012-03-18
Packaged: 2017-11-02 03:29:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being injured in a creature attack, Blade starts acting strangely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the primeval_denial Mini Bang Challenge, for a prompt from fififolle: 'Vampire house!fic, in which Matt discovers Blade's secret' (this is not quite that, but close enough!).
> 
> Set in the house!fic universe shared between myself and fififolle.
> 
> A note about OCs:  
> Primeval fandom on LiveJournal has generated a number of fanon OCs, created by different authors and freely used by others, to the extent that some of them have now taken on lives of their own. Of the ones that appear in this fic, Rees belongs to me, and Blade, Finn and Ditzy belong to fredbassett.
> 
> Ross Jenkins was rescued from BBC Wales by bigtitch.

Matt sat down, and resisted the urge to let his head thump down on to the kitchen tabletop.  
  
It had been a bloody shit couple of days. 3am on Monday morning was not a time anyone wanted to be sent to an anomaly, particularly one that had unleashed what appeared to be a monster from the deepest pits of hell (otherwise known as the future, according to Temple) on an unsuspecting world.  
  
It had been dark, and the creature had been pretty fast and pretty agile. However, it hadn’t possessed the almost uncanny ability to avoid capture that the future predators they’d run into previously had. Although that hadn’t prevented it trying to take a chunk out of Blade before they’d managed to round it up and practically throw it back through the anomaly.  
  
Of course, Blade had tried to claim that his injuries were superficial, and not bothering him in the slightest. However, a coalition of Ryan, Ditzy, and Matt himself had decided (correctly) that he was talking utter rubbish, and conspired to keep Blade in the infirmary at the ARC for at least twenty-four hours so he could get the treatment he needed.  
  
Apart from the nasty bites on Blade’s left shoulder, the creature had left deep slashes on both his arms and his right thigh, where its clawed hands and feet had grabbed hold of him when it had attacked. Plus, being from the future, none of them had any idea what sort of germs the beast might have been carrying. Ditzy had pumped Blade full of antibiotics, but the concern about infection, along with the amount of stitches that had been required, had meant that in the end they’d kept Blade under observation for nearly forty-eight hours, much longer than Blade had wanted.  
  
However, with the wounds already showing signs of healing properly (albeit likely to leave scars), and with no sign of any kind of infection, Ditzy and Matt had finally agreed that Blade could leave the infirmary. And Matt was hoping that, with his lover back home, safe and sound and in his bed, he could banish the memories that were haunting him day and night.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
“Are you all right?” Matt asked, following Blade into the house.  
  
“I’m fine,” replied Blade shortly, without looking back at him.  
  
“Are you sure? Is there anything I can get you?” Matt knew he was fussing, and that Blade wouldn’t like it, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He could see that his lover was still favouring his injured leg, his limp more pronounced than Matt would have liked. And although he’d been declared well enough to come home, Blade still looked rather pale and wan, something that was worrying Matt more than a little.  
  
Nonetheless, he was still surprised at the response his questions elicited. Blade turned on him suddenly, his green eyes flashing with anger.  
  
“I said, I’m _fine!_ Just bloody well leave me alone!”  
  
Taken aback, Matt just gaped for a few moments, until the fury in Blade’s expression faded as abruptly as it had appeared, and the other man scrubbed a hand across his tired-looking face.  
  
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what…look, I’m just tired, okay? Knackered, in fact.” Blade summoned up a half-hearted smile, and Matt plastered an answering one on to his own face, although inside he was still feeling rather shocked at Blade’s outburst.  
  
“Don’t worry about it. Of course you’re knackered. You just need sleep.”  
  
“That’s right,” Blade said quickly. “I just need a good night’s kip in my own bed.”  
  
“Well, come on then, let’s get you upstairs, and we’ll see what we can do about that.”  
  
But when they reached the top floor, Blade put a hand out to stop Matt as he was about to follow his lover into his room.  
  
“Do you mind? It’s just…well, I really need to _sleep_. On my own. That’s okay, isn’t it?”  
  
“Of course it is,” said Matt, although he felt like he’d just been punched in the stomach. “Probably a good idea.”  
  
“Thanks. Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then.”  
  
“Yep, see you in the morning,” Matt echoed. “Sleep well.”  
  
Blade disappeared into his room without replying, and Matt stared at the closed door for several moments before he turned and went to his own bed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
“Morning,” said Finn, ambling into the kitchen and making a beeline for the kettle.  
  
“Morning,” Matt mumbled back, around a mouthful of cereal.  
  
“Blade all right this morning?” Finn asked.  
  
Matt swallowed quickly. “What do you mean?”  
  
Finn gave him a confused look. “I got up last night to have a pee and I heard someone moving around in his room. Thought it was you giving him some more painkillers or something.”  
  
“It wasn’t me,” Matt told him. He cursed under his breath. Blade needed to bloody rest, for god’s sake. Matt considered offering him some sleeping pills, even though he knew Blade would probably refuse them.  
  
Then the subject of their discussion walked into the kitchen – looking, to put it bluntly, like crap.  
  
“Did you have trouble sleeping last night?” Matt asked, without preamble.  
  
Why do you ask?” said Blade, slumping into a chair, but not making any attempt to reach for the cereal or the toast rack.  
  
“Finn heard you moving about in the night.”  
  
“Oh, he did, did he?” muttered Blade, glaring over his shoulder at Finn. Finn’s eyes widened briefly, and he turned hurriedly back to the kettle.  
  
“It was nothing,” Blade continued dismissively. “My shoulder was bothering me a bit, that’s all.”  
  
“You should have taken some more painkillers,” said Matt.  
  
“I didn’t have any.”  
  
“Well then, you should have woken me up. I wouldn’t have minded.”  
  
“I didn’t _want_ any fucking painkillers!” Blade hissed, venom suddenly dripping from his voice. “I don’t _need_ them.”  
  
He stood up abruptly, the chair screeching across the tiled floor, and stalked out of the kitchen. Matt heard his footsteps go thumping up the stairs at a speed that was fairly impressive for a man with a stitched up leg and a limp.  
  
A few moments later, Ross entered the kitchen. His gaze flicked between Finn, who was paying far to much attention to the boiling kettle, and Matt, whose eyes were firmly fixed on his bowl of cereal, although he was no longer eating it.  
  
“Woah, feel the tension in this room,” the young soldier joked, sitting down in the chair Blade had recently vacated. He snagged a piece of toast from the rack. “What’s up with Richards this morning anyway? I just heard him go thumping upstairs. He sounded pissed off.”  
  
Matt stood up as abruptly as Blade had done. “Just leave it, Jenkins,” he snapped, as he stormed out of the room.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
“Niall.” Matt knocked softly at the door. “Niall, it’s me.”  
  
There was no answer, and Matt wondered if he was going to be ignored. But he could be just as stubborn as his lover, and so he knocked again and raised his voice a little.  
  
“Niall. Let me in, please.”  
  
There was another pause, but then, just as Matt was about to knock for the third time, the door was flung open, and Blade was glaring at him angrily.  
  
Matt resisted the urge to shrink back. Blade looked very much as he’d like to punch his lights out and then slam the door in his face again. But after a moment the other man jerked his head in invitation, and Matt slipped into the room and closed the door behind him as Blade sat down on the bed.  
  
Matt didn’t sit down next to him. Blade was giving off incredibly strong ‘keep away’ vibes, and he decided that it was probably best not to push his luck too far.  
  
“Niall, what’s the matter?” he asked quietly. “ _Are_ you in pain? Because you know you don’t have to give me the big tough soldier act.”  
  
Blade didn’t answer for a moment or two, and the set of his jaw indicated that this was likely to be a very one-sided conversation. But then he sighed abruptly and looked at Matt.  
  
“I’m not in pain,” he responded, equally quietly. “At least, not a _lot_ of pain. Nothing I can’t handle at the moment, anyway.”  
  
“So what is it?” Matt pressed.  
  
“I don’t _know_. I just feel…twitchy,” Blade said. He shrugged. “Not very enlightening, I know, but I can’t really describe it any other way.”  
  
“Twitchy?” Matt raised his eyebrows. “Is that it?”  
  
“Not a great excuse for biting your head off at the drop of a hat, is it?”  
  
“Don’t worry about that,” Matt told him. “I suppose anyone would be twitchy after what happened to you.”  
  
Blade shrugged again. “I suppose. Look, I’ll try to keep the bad mood to a minimum from now on, okay?”  
  
“Don’t worry about it,” Matt repeated. “We’re none of us delicate little flowers, we can all cope with the occasional burst of bad temper.”  
  
“Still, it’s not really fair, is it? I’m sorry.”  
  
Matt felt the strong urge to go over to Blade and…do something to comfort him. Kiss him or, god forbid, give him a hug. He was very aware that he hadn’t so much as _touched_ his lover since he’d arrived home the previous evening.  
  
But despite the apologetic expression on Blade’s face, his body language still wasn’t welcoming, and Matt remained where he was.  
  
He decided to change the subject a little. “Look, are you hungry? You didn’t have anything when we got back last night, and I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t eat any breakfast earlier.”  
  
“I’m not really hungry,” said Blade.  
  
“Not eating isn’t going help matters,” Matt pointed out. “I’ll even make you a bacon butty,” he cajoled.  
  
“All right.” Blade smiled slightly. “If you’re offering a bacon butty…”  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Blade continued to be ‘twitchy’ over the next couple of days, and although no one was subjected to any more temper tantrums, this was probably because Blade seemed to have confined himself almost exclusively to his room, only emerging if he needed to go to the bathroom.  
  
He was also still not eating properly, and every time Matt saw him he appeared paler and even less rested. Worried that Blade really was in pain, and hiding it from him, Matt insisted on examining him for any sign of a problem with his recovery. But all of his wounds were still healing well, and Blade’s skin was cool to the touch, with no sign of the heat or fever that would indicate an infection.  
  
Blade had submitted to the examination, albeit with ill-grace, but once Matt had finished he had immediately gone to stand by the window, peering out from the shadow of the half-drawn curtains.  
  
Matt had taken the hint and left, but even though physically Blade was still recovering, he was nonetheless starting to worry. Something about this whole situation was really getting to the other man. Blade was normally so imperturbable as to appear emotionless, but right now it would be obvious to anyone that he was rattled. Matt wouldn’t have been surprised to discover that Blade was having nightmares or something about what had happened, which would at least go some way towards explaining why he looked so tired all the time.  
  
However, since the conversation where Blade had confessed his ‘twitchiness’, he’d consistently refused to open up to Matt any more, and during this last examination Matt hadn’t even bothered asking if Blade was feeling okay. He’d just counted himself lucky that Blade had let him touch him enough to check him over.  
  
Of course, there was another possible explanation for Blade’s reticence – one that wasn’t medical, or psychological. Maybe Blade was sick to death of Matt’s fussing. Maybe he was sick to death of _Matt_ , full stop. Blade wasn’t particularly known for letting people get close to him, and Matt knew that he’d got closer than most people in the soldier’s life.  
  
But maybe now Blade had decided that he’d let Matt _too_ close, and that he didn’t like it. Maybe this was his roundabout way of telling Matt that he didn’t want things to carry on between them.  
  
Matt didn’t really want believe that, though. Blade wasn’t the sort of person to play games about such things. If he wanted to end it, he’d just come out and say so. He didn’t beat around the bush.  
  
Still, the little niggle was there, and Matt couldn’t quite rid himself of the idea.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
“You need to do something about Blade, mate,” said Finn bluntly.  
  
Matt dragged his attention away from the television – which he hadn’t really been watching anyway – and looked at his housemate. “What?”  
  
“Oh, come on – I might never have been accused of being the most perceptive person around, but even I can see there’s something more wrong with him than a bite and a couple of scratches,” said Finn. “And Jenkins agrees with me, too.”  
  
Ross didn’t look particularly happy at being dragged into the conversation, but he nonetheless nodded at Finn’s words.  
  
“Fuck.” Matt’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. He’s not…normal, is he?”  
  
“Nope.” Finn shook his head. “And considering this is Blade we’re talking about, that’s saying something!”  
  
But the lame joke didn’t raise a smile from any of them. Instead, Matt grimaced in disgust at himself.  
  
“I’ve let this go on for too long. Bloody _great_ friend, I am, ignoring what was going on, wallowing in self-pity because I thought…” He cut himself off abruptly. Finn and Ross were mates, but they didn’t need to hear about his personal issues. “I’ll talk to him,” he said instead. “And this time I’m not going to be fobbed off.”  
  
“Do you need backup?” Finn asked.  
  
“We’re on shift in a bit, mate,” Ross said quickly. “Sorry,” he added, looking at Matt.  
  
“It’s fine,” Matt said. “I’ll handle it. Probably best if we don’t turn up en masse anyway – he’ll think he’s being ganged up on.”  
  
He sat, deep in thought, while Finn and Ross got their stuff together and left for the ARC. They both flashed him reassuring smiles before they went, and he nodded at them absently, trying to decide what the best approach would be to make Blade admit that there was more wrong with him than ‘twitchiness’.  
  
He briefly contemplated just calling Ditzy and Captain Ryan, and informing them of the situation and enlisting their aid, but he quickly dismissed the idea. That would be too much like ganging up again, and he knew Blade would feel betrayed if he went running to his senior officers.  
  
No, he was on his own with this one. He’d just have to persuade Blade that he needed more help than Matt could give him.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
“Niall, it’s me.” This time Matt didn’t knock, but simply opened the door and walked into Blade’s bedroom.  
  
Then he had to stop. The room was in complete darkness – not even a lamp switched on – and at first he couldn’t see Blade at all.  
  
“Niall, where are you?” he asked.  
  
No one answered, but a sudden movement drew Matt’s attention, and he realised that Blade was sitting on the floor by the end of the bed.  
  
“Jesus, Niall…” he breathed.  
  
There wasn’t much light coming in from the hallway outside, but there was enough for Matt to see that Blade looked wrecked. So much worse, in fact, than he’d looked when Matt had brought him lunch only a few hours earlier, that Matt couldn’t quite wrap his head around it.  
  
He took a step forward, towards Blade. “Fucking hell, what’s happened to you?”  
  
“Leave me alone,” Blade growled.  
  
“Niall, you’re not well. You need to go back to the infirmary. Come on, mate…”  
  
Blade was suddenly on his feet and in front of Matt. Matt blinked – he hadn’t even seen Blade move. “I said, leave…me…the…fuck…alone,” Blade repeated, his voice low and dangerous. There was a darkness in his eyes that had nothing to do with the lack of light in the room, and the expression on his face was feral, almost predatory.  
  
Abruptly, he pushed Matt backwards and Matt stumbled, his shoulder impacting hard on the doorframe.  
  
“Get out of here and don’t come near me again.”  
  
Matt knew a threat when he heard one. Badly shaken, he fled, out of Blade’s room, down the hallway, and into his own room.  
  
The door closed behind him, he sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, and then slid down until he was on the floor. His shoulder throbbed, but he ignored it as he tried to understand what had just happened.  
  
He didn’t know what was wrong with Blade, but he _did_ know that he’d been wrong. This wasn’t something he could deal with on his own. He needed help.  
  
He should call someone. Ditzy, Captain Ryan, even Lester. He thought about the phone in the hallway downstairs, and his mobile lying on the kitchen table.  
  
He didn’t move.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Somehow, he’d fallen asleep, despite sitting uncomfortably on the floor, and despite all the thoughts whirling round and round in his head.  
  
Matt wasn’t sure what had woken him until he heard it again. Some sort of commotion or scuffle coming from the back garden, and then a dull metallic clang that sounded very much like a dustbin falling over.  
  
Mechanically, he got to his feet and went to the window that overlooked the garden. He wasn’t sure why he was bothering – it was probably just fox or something, after a rat.  
  
But he nonetheless pulled the curtains back slightly and peered out, squinting as he tried to see what was going on.  
  
This was an urban area – it was never truly dark anywhere. However, not much of the light from the streetlamps in front of the house made it back here, and at this time of night (Matt glanced over his shoulder quickly – the digital clock by the bed proclaimed it to be 2:32am) none of the neighbours had any outside lights on, or even indoor ones that might have a shed a soft glow through closed curtains.  
  
Therefore, Matt could only just make out that one of the dustbins sitting by the garden fence was indeed on its side, and that there was something moving around down there next to it.  
  
He frowned. He couldn’t see much – whatever was there was really just a darker patch of black on black. But he _could_ tell that it was bigger than a fox. A _lot_ bigger.  
  
Matt sighed. Probably bloody kids taking the piss or something. He was going to have to have another little chat with Finn about remembering to lock the side gate after he’d brought the bins in.  
  
He’d go downstairs, yell at them and give them a fright, and that would be the end of it. He could handle a few kids.  
  
But somehow he found himself going to his chest of drawers and pulling out the gun that he kept hidden in the very bottom drawer, the one that he wasn’t supposed to have but which right now he was for some reason glad of.  
  
Leaving his room, he glanced down the hallway to Blade’s door, still resolutely shut. There was no noise coming from Blade’s room, and Matt didn’t even think about asking for the other soldier’s help. Blade was in no fit state to do anything right now, and Matt didn’t fancy a repeat of his earlier, less-than-warm welcome.  
  
Besides, it was only a couple of kids. He could deal with it.  
  
His grip tightened on the gun as he moved silently down the stairs.  
  
Pausing by the back door, Matt peered out into the garden again. At first he wasn’t sure if the intruders were still there, but then a suggestion of movement, still in the same place, had him tensing. Slowly, he reached out, and smoothly slid open the drawer of the kitchen unit by the door, and felt around by touch until his hand closed on the handle of the torch.  
  
For a wonder, the back door opened silently for once, despite its normally creaky hinges, and Matt stepped out into the cool night air. The bins were seven or eight metres away, and so far whoever – or whatever – was causing all this trouble didn’t appear to have noticed Matt’s presence. There was a bit more scuffling, and then a scraping sound as the second, upright dustbin was pushed along the ground.  
  
Matt kept the gun by his side, and instead raised the torch. “Don’t move,” he said calmly, at the same time as he flicked it on.  
  
It definitely wasn’t kids. Or a fox. But it was after rats.  
  
Wild green eyes stared at Matt as Blade froze in the circle of torchlight, a mess of blood and fur between his teeth.


	2. Chapter 2

  
The tableau held for a few moments, Matt and Blade staring at each other across the garden. Then Blade’s eyes slid to the left, towards the passage that ran down the side of the house and out to the street.  
  
Matt tensed. He still wasn’t sure whether the side gate was properly locked or not, but he couldn’t risk Blade getting away from him. Not while he was in this state.  
  
But he still didn’t raise the gun.  
  
Suddenly, Blade moved, not towards the passage, but directly towards Matt. Matt barely had time to react before he was shoved aside. He swore and just managed not to tumble to the ground, but by the time he had regained his balance, Blade had disappeared back inside the house.  
  
“Fuck!” Matt cursed, and darted inside after him. If Blade could make it to the front door, he’d be out and away. Matt couldn’t let that happen.  
  
However, when he reached the hallway, he found the front door still firmly closed and locked, although there was no sign of Blade. Then the sound of a door slamming far above his head told him that instead of trying to escape, Blade had retreated back to his room.  
  
Matt raced up the stairs to the top floor of the house, coming to a stop outside Blade’s door. Then he hesitated. Should he knock or not? What were the chances of Blade voluntarily letting him right now?  
  
 _What are the chances that he even knows who you_ are _right now?_ whispered a little voice inside Matt’s head. He ignored it.  
  
He was still holding the gun and the torch. The latter he set down on the floor, but he kept hold of the former. He hated to think that he might need it, but he had to keep a cool head. He couldn’t let his emotions get the better of him. He’d seen something dangerous – more dangerous than usual – in Blade’s eyes down in the garden, and he knew he couldn’t go in unarmed.  
  
But when he tried the doorknob, the door wouldn’t open. Matt frowned. The doors had locks on them, but the keys had been lost long before they’d all taken up residence in the house, so it couldn’t be that. And there hadn’t been time to move a piece of heavy furniture in front of the door – besides, Matt would have heard that. Blade must have jammed a chair under the knob or something, to prevent it from turning. If he shoved hard enough, Matt should be able to force the door open.  
  
However, something stopped him. This situation was getting out of hand. He had no idea what he would find inside Blade’s room, and if he was going to be truly rational about this, he had to admit to himself that he needed backup.  
  
But Finn and Ross wouldn’t be back from their shift for hours, and he needed help now. Reluctantly, Matt padded quickly downstairs again, grabbed his phone and dialled a number, only for the call to go straight to voicemail. Trying a second number as he hurried back upstairs just resulted in an electronic voice telling him that the phone in question was switched off. Sighing, Matt tried a third number, and then went through the normal security checks until a female voice spoke at the other end of the line.  
  
 _“Hello, Lieutenant Rees. How can I help?”_  
  
Matt recognised the voice as Lester’s secretary, Lorraine Wickes. “I was hoping to speak to Dit…Lieutenant Owen,” he said. “Is he there?”  
  
 _“I’m afraid not. There was an anomaly alert shortly after midnight.”_  
  
“So Captain Ryan isn’t there either?”  
  
 _“No. Is something the matter? Would you like to speak to Sir James?”_  
  
“No, no,” replied Matt hastily. “It’s not that important. I’ll speak to one of the others when they get back.”  
  
He’d hung up before he even really realised what he was doing, and then stared dumbly at the phone in his hand for a few moments. He’d panicked, pure and simple. If Lester found out that there was something wrong with Blade – something _badly_ wrong – he’d drag Blade into the ARC to be poked and prodded and examined. And it would be obvious to anyone who looked at Blade right now that he was more than just _sick_. Matt dreaded to think what would happen to his lover after that.  
  
Calmly, he placed the phone on the carpet next to the torch, and laid the gun down next to that. Then he sat down on the floor, and placed his hand flat against the painted wood of the bedroom door.  
  
“Niall?” he said softly. “Are you all right?”  
  
There was no answer.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
For the second time that night, Matt had fallen asleep sitting on an uncomfortably hard floor, and despite the tumult of thoughts and emotions raging inside him.  
  
And for the second time, he found himself uncertain what had woken him, until he heard the noise again.  
  
It was coming from inside Blade’s room. It sounded like retching. No, more than that. It sounded like Blade was throwing up his entire insides. It sounded like he was choking.  
  
Matt was on his feet before he was even really aware of it. “Niall!” he yelled. “Niall, are you all right? Niall, let me in!”  
  
The only response was more horrible choking sounds, and Matt gave up on the polite approach, instead throwing himself at the closed door with all his strength. At the third attempt it gave, with an ominous sound of cracking wood that Matt barely noticed. He pushed his way into the room, nearly tripping over the mangled remains of the chair that had indeed been keeping the door wedged shut, his eyes searching out Blade.  
  
The other man was hunched over what looked to be a rubbish bin, his entire body convulsing as he threw up repeatedly.  
  
“Niall!” Matt hurried over and dropped to his knees beside Blade, placing a comforting hand on his lover’s back.  
  
He half expected Blade to shove him away. He hadn’t exactly welcomed contact lately, and Matt couldn’t forget the complete absence of recognition he’d seen (or, indeed, _not_ seen) in Blade’s eyes earlier. Was Blade himself now, or was he still a stranger?  
  
But Blade didn’t react to his touch – in fact, he seemed barely aware of Matt’s presence as he continued convulse. Catching a glimpse of the contents of the bin made Matt’s own stomach roil – it was a mess of vomit, blood, and other things that Matt didn’t even want to contemplate.  
  
“Ssh,” he said gently, speaking as he would to a skittish animal. “Ssh, it’s all right.”  
  
Gradually, Blade’s retching started to die down. He had nothing left in his stomach to throw up, and Matt could now smell the sharp, unpleasant scent of bile mixed in with everything else. He continued to stroke his hand up and down Blade’s back, feeling helpless, but knowing there was nothing else he could do until Blade calmed down.  
  
“Niall, it’s okay. I’m here.”  
  
“Matt?” Blade’s voice was hoarse and rasping, as if his throat was raw. Which it very probably was at this point, Matt reflected.  
  
“Yes, it’s me.”  
  
“What the fuck happened?”  
  
Matt hesitated, and then told the truth. “I don’t know. What do you remember?”  
  
“I remember speaking to you, telling you to keep away from me…” Blade broke off as a fit of coughing overtook him. It was some moments before he could speak again. “And then…I woke up, and I was…I was…like this.”  
  
Matt became aware that Blade was trembling violently under his hand. “It’s all right, it’s okay,” he said.  
  
“No, it bloody well _isn’t_ ,” replied Blade, lifting his head so Matt could see his face for the first time.  
  
Matt struggled to keep his expression neutral. Blade’s skin was absolutely white, throwing into stark relief the heavy dark circles under his eyes and the smears of bright red blood around his mouth. He looked…horrific.  
  
“What the fuck is wrong with me?” Blade whispered.  
  
Matt couldn’t only shake his head wordlessly, and they stared at each other for a few seconds.  
  
Then Matt gave himself a mental slap. “Can you stand?” he asked.  
  
Blade thought for a moment, and then nodded. “Yes, I think so.”  
  
Matt helped him to his feet and led him towards the door. He felt Blade check.  
  
“Don’t worry,” he said, correctly interpreting Blade’s reluctance. “The others aren’t here. There was an alert, and everyone’s stuck at an anomaly somewhere.” He gave Blade’s arm a gentle, encouraging tug. “Let’s get you to the bathroom, get you cleaned up a bit.”  
  
Blade looked even worse in the harsh fluorescent light of the bathroom, and Matt noticed that he carefully avoided looking at himself in the mirror. Matt ran a basin full of warm water, and used a cloth to gently wipe away the blood and other…remains…adorning Blade’s face. Blade was still trembling with reaction, and his skin was icy to the touch.  
  
“When was the last time you showered?” Matt asked.  
  
Blade’s face creased in confusion. “I don’t know?” he replied, as if even that simple question was too much for him.  
  
“Do you think you could manage one now? Just a quick one. You need to warm up, and you’ll feel much better once you’re clean.”  
  
Blade nodded, and Matt smiled. “Good. But first, use this.” He handed Blade a glass of water, and then led Blade over to the basin so he could rinse and spit with several mouthfuls, following them up with a capful of mint mouthwash.  
  
Blade stood quiescent, helping only when necessary as Matt stripped off his clothes and steered him towards the shower cubicle. After a brief hesitation, Matt quickly pulled off his own clothes too. It would be a squeeze, but he wasn’t sure that Blade was capable of keeping himself upright, never mind actually cleaning himself. He was obviously exhausted, a little bit in shock, and well on the way to physically shutting down completely. Matt wanted to get him clean and into bed before he collapsed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Matt sighed quietly to himself, massaging his temples with his fingers as he blinked away tiredness. It was now around 6:30am, and to Matt the night had felt eternal.  
  
He’d managed to persuade Blade into bed (Matt’s bed, not his own – Blade’s room was hardly in a habitable state at the moment) after they’d showered, and Blade had fallen asleep almost instantly. Matt had been watching him for the past half an hour or so, alert for any signs that there might be a repetition of the night’s events, but so far nothing.  
  
Matt refused to let himself be lulled, however, and he refused to let himself fall asleep, despite his own tiredness. Blade might need him, and besides, it was morning now. Not much point in going to sleep – he’d battle on through. He’d gone for longer periods than this without rest, after all.  
  
But he needed to _do_ something, otherwise he was going to drop off right here. He was reluctant to leave Blade alone, but there were a few things that needed setting to rights before Finn and Ross came back and started asking questions.  
  
He decided to tackle Blade’s room first, but almost regretted that decision when he flung the curtains open. The pale morning light revealed a pretty unpleasant sight – not surprising when the room had been inhabited almost continuously for several days by an occupant who hadn’t washed, and who had been seriously ill the night before.  
  
Matt opened the window to let some air in, and then quickly stripped the soiled, sweat-stained sheets off the bed, carrying them, and an abandoned plate of barely touched lunch from the day before, down to the kitchen. The lunch went in the bin and the sheets went in the washing machine, and then Matt returned upstairs.  
  
The bin full of vomit made nausea rise in his throat again, but he firmly held it in check as he took it down to the bathroom and emptied the contents down the toilet, and then swilled the bin out with almost a whole bottle of bleach.  
  
Going down to the back garden, Matt righted the toppled dustbin, placing it back next to the other one in its customary place by the fence. He even picked up the mangled and bloody remains of the rat that Blade…of the dead rat from the ground and tossed it into one of the dustbins. However, that act finally destroyed the fragile hold he had on his stomach, and he barely made it back to the bathroom again before he was throwing up, perhaps not as violently as Blade had, but enough to make him feel weak and shaky.  
  
He let himself pause for a moment, as the toilet flushed away the evidence, allowed himself one instance of weakness, and then clambered to his feet, availed himself of the same mouthwash he’d offered to Blade earlier, and then made his way back up to the top floor of the house, intent on putting fresh linen on Blade’s bed.  
  
His phone started vibrating as he approached Blade’s bedroom door, and Matt looked down at it, faintly surprised. He’d almost forgotten that he’d left it there, on the floor with the torch and gun. The sight of the latter made him flinch, and he hoped Blade hadn’t noticed it earlier.  
  
Then he bent down and scooped up the phone, hitting the answer button as he raised it his ear.  
  
“Hello?” he said quietly, aware that Blade was asleep not too many yards away.  
  
 _“Lieutenant Rees? This is Lorraine Wickes again. I’m sorry if I’ve woken you – I tried your landline, but no one answered.”_  
  
“Oh, hello, Miss Wickes. It’s all right, you didn’t wake me. I was in the bathroom, that’s all. And Niall is asleep.”  
  
 _“Good. I’m just calling to let you know that the anomaly situation is going on rather longer than everyone had hoped. I believe Lieutenant Lyle’s words were ‘we’ve got a herd of veggiesaurus scattered halfway across the Cotswolds’, only with more swearing.”_  
  
Despite everything, Matt smiled slightly. That did sound rather like Lyle. Only with less swearing.  
  
 _“We’ve had to call in the rest of your team to assist, as Captain Stringer and his men are currently unavailable.”_  
  
“My team?” said Matt. “Captain Jacobs didn’t contact me.”  
  
 _“No, Corporal Finn mentioned that you were looking after Corporal Richards, so Captains Jacobs and Ryan made the decision to let you stay where you are.”_  
  
“Finn said that?” questioned Matt, wondering exactly what else Finn might have said.  
  
 _“Yes, he said that Corporal Richards wasn’t particularly taking well to being confined to the house while he recovered, and Captain Ryan thought, and again I quote, that ‘it would be a good idea of Rees stayed there and made sure Blade didn’t do something stupid’.”_  
  
Matt pulled a face at the irony of that statement, glad that Lorraine couldn’t see him. “Oh, okay. Well, thank you for letting me know, Miss Wickes. Will you contact me when they’re on their way back?” Matt figured he could do with some warning on that score.  
  
 _“Of course, Lieutenant.”_  
  
Matt remained where he was for a moment or two after Lorraine had hung up, wondering whether to hang, draw, and quarter Finn next time he saw him. Still, he supposed it wasn’t really Finn’s fault. Neither he nor Ross really knew what was going on, and he was just worried about Blade.  
  
“Who was that?”  
  
Blade’s voice was quiet, but Matt nearly jumped out of his skin anyway.  
  
“Sorry,” said Blade, offering something that might have been a smile, but that didn’t really sit well on his drawn face.  
  
“It’s fine,” replied Matt, willing his racing heart to slow down a little. “You just startled me a bit.” Then he frowned. “What are you doing out of bed? You’ve been sleeping for less that two hours.”  
  
Something that definitely _wasn’t_ a smile crossed Blade’s face, and for a moment Matt wondered if he was going to refuse to answer. Then Blade turned back into the bedroom, beckoning to Matt as he did so.  
  
“Come and sit with me for a bit, yeah?”  
  
Matt nodded, and followed him, watching as Blade crawled back under the bedcovers, propping himself up against the pillows, and then sitting down at the end of the bed, twisted round so he could face Blade.  
  
“So who was on the phone, then?”  
  
“Hmmm? Oh, Lorraine Wickes. The others won’t be back for a while. They’ve got their hands full at an anomaly. They’re all fine though,” Matt added quickly, seeing Blade’s concerned expression. Then he decided that he wasn’t going to let Blade avoid his earlier question any longer. “So why aren’t you still sleeping?” he asked again pointedly.  
  
“I was dreaming,” said Blade softly. “Or, to be more accurate, I think I was actually remembering. About last night.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
I was getting flashes. Of going downstairs. Of being in the back garden. Of…of…”  
  
“It’s okay, you don’t need to say it.”  
  
“I remember you being there, too,” Blade continued. “You _saw_ me.” He turned his face away, seemingly unable to look Matt in the eye.  
  
“What’s going on, Niall?” Matt asked, too tired and too emotionally wrung out to beat around the bush any more.  
  
Blade barked a short, bitter laugh, still not looking at Matt. “You think _I_ know?”  
  
“Just start from the beginning, why don’t you? We can figure this out.”  
  
Blade hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. “Yeah, okay, the beginning.” He took a breath, apparently organising his thoughts.  
  
Matt waited.  
  
“I didn’t think much of it at first,” Blade said, after a moment or two. “Okay, I felt a bit…”  
  
“Twitchy?” Matt supplied helpfully.  
  
“That’s right,” Blade replied, and they shared a smile, albeit one that was a quickly gone. “You know what I’m like when I laid up with an injury.”  
  
“Don’t I just.”  
  
“But then it started getting worse. I thought I was getting an infection from the bites or something. I felt like something was crawling under my skin, and I started getting hungry.”  
  
“But we were bringing you meals. You had food.”  
  
“It didn’t help. I still felt hungry. And that made me even more irritable. Even more…angry.”  
  
“You shut yourself away from us.”  
  
“Yes. It felt like something was taking me over, but I still had enough self-control to realise that I should keep away from you guys as much as possible.”  
  
“Why didn’t you say anything?”  
  
“I couldn’t.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“I just couldn’t. To start with I couldn’t work out how to explain it in a way that would make sense. And by the time I realised that something was going seriously wrong, I just…couldn’t. Like actually _couldn’t_.”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“I wasn’t me any more. And whatever I was _really_ didn’t want to tell you what was going on. I can’t put it any better than that.”  
  
“So what happened…last night?” Matt wished he didn’t have to ask, but the question couldn’t be avoided if they were going to have any hope of figuring this out.  
  
“It got to be too much,” replied Blade, in a low voice. “I couldn’t keep it back any more. It took my last shred of control to force you away from me – I don’t know what I might have done to you if you hadn’t left.”  
  
Matt felt a trickle of ice make its way down his spine at Blade’s words. Okay, so the lads might joke about Blade being a psycho, and he had what some people might call an unhealthy obsession with his knives, but this was a whole different league. Matt knew that Blade would never hurt him normally, and it scared him more than he was willing to admit to hear that Blade might hurt him _now_.  
  
“The hunger took over. I had to…to feed.” Blade’s expression twisted into a grimace of disgust as they both remembered what exactly he’d fed on.  
  
“And what about now?” Matt asked carefully. “Are you hungry now?”  
  
Blade hesitated for a moment. “It’s still there,” he admitted. “But not as strong. I think I’ve satisfied it. For the moment.”  
  
“For the moment?”  
  
“Well, I don’t think what I ingested will keep me going for long. Particularly as I threw up pretty much all of it earlier.”  
  
“Okay,” said Matt, knowing it wasn’t okay at all.  
  
“It was never as bad during the day anyway,” Blade continued. “It was always harder to control at night. But I always woke up in the morning feeling more like myself. Although that’s all relative, of course. But nights are definitely the worst. That’s when I can feel it clawing at me, pushing me to feed.”  
  
Matt stared at him. “You do know what that sounds like, don’t you?” he said.  
  
“Of course I know what it fucking sounds like!” Blade snapped, and then his face softened in apology as he saw Matt flinch. “Sorry. Just…don’t say it, okay. The whole idea is ridiculous.”  
  
Matt didn’t say it. Blade was right. It _was_ ridiculous. They weren’t living in a bloody gothic novel, for god’s sake.  
  
Still, he couldn’t stop the ‘v’ word from floating across his mind, and although he tried not to think about it, he couldn’t seem to completely ignore it.  
  
“So what happens next?” Blade asked.  
  
“I don’t know,” replied Matt honestly.  
  
“We should tell them at the ARC. I’m dangerous now. _More_ dangerous,” Blade amended with a faint grin.  
  
Matt didn’t return it. He was remembering all the reasons that he hadn’t called in help before now. Blade being poked and prodded and tested and watched.  
  
“Yes, I suppose we should,” he said reluctantly. “If you want to.”  
  
“Of course I don’t want to! If they can’t cure me, they’ll study me like some freakish experiment.” Blade sighed. “But it’s the right thing to do.”  
  
“What if…” Matt said slowly. “What if we wait one more night? Just to see? Maybe now you’ve fed it’ll go away. Maybe that impulse is just a way of passing something on. The creature passed it to you, but your attempt to pass it on again ended in…”  
  
“A dead rat,” said Blade. “Procreation, is that was you think? We’re straying dangerously close to creature of the night territory again here.”  
  
“It could be the case,” said Matt stubbornly, aware that he was clutching at straws, but not willing to give up and hand Blade over to the scientists so easily.  
  
“And what if it doesn’t go away?” said Blade. “I can still _feel_ it, Matt. It’s still here. And you know I could hurt you. Next time I might decide I’m in the mood for something other than rodent.”  
  
“I can take care of myself,” replied Matt. “If things turn nasty, I can deal with it.”  
  
“Deal with me,” Blade corrected. “You’ll have to, you know that, right? You’ll have to pick up that gun that’s out in the hallway and shoot me.”  
  
“It won’t come to that.”  
  
“It might.”  
  
They stared hard at each other for a moment, and then Blade barked a laugh.  
  
“Shit, I think you’ve talked me into it without me even realising it.” Then his eyes narrowed. “But you have to promise me that you’ll do what’s necessary, yes?”  
  
“Yes, okay,” said Matt shortly.  
  
 _“Promise.”_  
  
“I promise.”  
  
“All right then.” Blade nodded. “Although there is one thing we haven’t considered.”  
  
“What’s that?”  
  
“What if Finn and Ross come back? Did Lorraine say how long they were going to be?”  
  
“No. I don’t think they know. Dinosaur wrangling, you know?”  
  
“I know. Oh well, I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge if we come to it.”  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
They didn’t come to it. Lorraine Wickes called twice more during the day, once to give Matt a progress update (the update being that they hadn’t made much progress), and once to let them know that, although the team thought they’d managed to round up all the stray dinosaurs, they were going to stay in the area overnight and do a final sweep in the morning, barring the advent of another anomaly elsewhere.  
  
Matt returned from the second call carrying a plate of sandwiches with which he hoped to tempt Blade, only to find that the bedroom was in darkness, and Blade was visible only as a lump curled up on his side on the bed.  
  
“Niall?” Matt deposited the plate on a convenient surface and hurried over to his lover. “Niall, what’s the matter?”  
  
“It’s started,” Blade forced out between gritted teeth.  
  
Something clicked in Matt’s head. Darkness. The sun had set.  
  
“So it hasn’t gone away, then?” he said in a flat voice.  
  
“Doesn’t look like it.”  
  
“We’ll get through this, Niall. Believe it.”  
  
“Have you got your gun?” Blade asked.  
  
“Yes,” Matt replied reluctantly, feeling the heavy weight of the weapon tucked into the waistband of his jeans.  
  
“Good.” Blade looked up at him, his eyes nothing more than glints in the faint light coming from the hallway and through the un-curtained window. “Please, Matt, don’t let me do…anything.”  
  
“I won’t,” Matt promised, although he wondered if he’d really be able to keep that vow. But he almost couldn’t stand to hear the pleading note in Blade’s voice, and without thinking he reached out to squeeze the other man’s shoulder comfortingly.  
  
“Don’t touch me!” Blade snapped, and Matt jerked his hand back.  
  
There was a moment of silence, and then Blade sighed. “Sorry,” he said. “But I hope you realise, I’m probably not going to be very nice to you for the next few hours, even if I don’t try to…” He broke off with a low moan, his arms curling around his stomach as if in pain.  
  
“Niall? Niall!”  
  
“It’s coming. I can’t hold it back. Please, Matt, _please…_ ”  
  
The next few hours were among the most terrible that Matt had ever known. Worse than his experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, worse than dealing with the creatures that the anomalies let loose, worse even than finding Blade in the garden the previous night.  
  
He could only watch as Blade turned from himself into someone – some _thing_ – that Matt didn’t recognise. Blade prowled the room, looking at Matt out of dark, hooded eyes, occasionally ranting and cursing at his captivity, and periodically holding back what appeared to be spasms of pain. Every time he came anywhere near Matt, who was sitting on a chair with his back against the closed door, Matt would raise the gun from his lap, his hand steady but his mind full of doubts. He worried that this new version of Blade would be able to sense those doubts, and would try to escape anyway, but for the moment just the threat of the gun seemed to be enough to keep Blade at bay.  
  
However, as the night wore on, Blade’s pain seemed to increase, the unsatisfied hunger – the _craving_ – eating away at him until the prowling stopped and he was no more than an animal, a shaking, spitting wreck that was almost pitiful to behold.  
  
It finally occurred to Matt to wonder what would happen to Blade if the hunger _wasn’t_ satisfied. Would he be permanently damaged? Would it kill him?  
  
He began to get an inkling of what a horrible mistake they’d made – what a horrible mistake _he’d_ made – in not getting help for Blade. Yes, if he’d gone to the ARC they would have probably shut him up and poked and prodded him, but wasn’t that better than what he was going through now? Wasn’t that better than _dying?_  
  
“Fuck,” Matt muttered quietly to himself. “What have I done?”  
  
His words seemed to catch Blade’s attention – Matt suddenly realised that his companion was watching him again, the pain apparently having receded for the moment.  
  
He stared back at Blade for a few moments, and then realised what he had to do.  
  
It was too late to get Blade to the ARC. And it was too late to get anyone here. Blade needed help _now_. And there was only one sort of help Matt could give.  
  
Slowly, Matt stood up and moved towards the chest of drawers on one side of the room, conscious of Blade’s eyes on him the whole time. He slid the second drawer open carefully and rummaged around underneath the clothes that were in there until his hands lighted on what he was looking for.  
  
He drew the knife out and then moved slowly towards Blade, sinking down to the floor when he’d got as close as he dared. He placed his gun on the floor beside him, and then rolled his left sleeve up. Gritting his teeth, he placed the knife against his arm, slicing through the skin. Blood welled from the cut instantly, and taking a deep breath, Matt held his arm out to Blade.  
  
“Use me.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Use me.”  
  
For a moment Matt wondered whether Blade was actually capable of realising what he was being offered. But the smell and sight of blood was obviously enough, and Blade moved suddenly, lunging towards Matt and grabbing his arm in a fierce grip.  
  
They stared into each other’s eyes for a split second, and then Blade nodded at him minutely. Acknowledgment? Thanks? Completely imagined on Matt’s part? Matt nonetheless nodded back, and then Blade lowered his mouth to Matt’s arm and sealed his mouth to the open wound  
  
There was a burst of pain as Blade started to suck – he wasn’t being gentle, and his teeth were worrying at the edges of the cut Matt had made. Matt knew that he was probably going to end up with an ugly scar to show for his generosity.  
  
He pressed his lips together to prevent any sound from escaping, and stared fixedly at the crown of Blade’s head. The pain didn’t recede so much as transform itself into a dull throb as Blade continued to suck Matt’s blood into his mouth. It was a slightly odd sensation, nothing like having blood drawn by a needle for medical tests.  
  
Then Matt felt something else. Later he was hard pressed to describe it as anything other than a warmth – or perhaps a tingle – spreading over his body like a sudden blush.  
  
Matt had known when he’d offered himself to Blade what could happen. Whatever had infected his lover had come from the creature, and was inside Blade’s body now. So by exposing himself to Blade in this way, it was all too probable that Matt was exposing _himself_ to being infected in same way that Blade was.  
  
Was this what he was experiencing? Was the bacteria, or virus, or whatever the invader was, now transferring itself to him? If so, it was moving extremely fast. He had no hope of avoiding infection now.  
  
Although the feeling that had come over him wasn’t exactly unpleasant. He didn’t feel like he was being infected, or contaminated. Instead it felt almost like…arousal.  
  
Matt frowned. What the hell was happening to him?  
  
“Niall,” he said softly, aware that his voice sounded somewhat slurred. “Niall, stop. Stop!”  
  
Amazingly, Blade stopped. He lifted his head from Matt’s arm and sat back on his heels, giving Matt a lazy smile as he licked his lips to catch the stray drops of blood around his mouth. Then, without warning, he leaned in to kiss Matt.  
  
Matt jerked his head to the side, away from Blade. He still wasn’t sure what was happening, but he did know that Blade still wasn’t himself, and he also knew that he couldn’t let this go any further.  
  
Reaching out, he grabbed his gun and raised it, letting Blade feel the cold metal of muzzle as he pressed it against his ribcage.  
  
“Back off,” Matt said clearly. He moved the gun slightly and amended his language. “Get away from me.”  
  
Blade looked at him from out of dark eyes, and Matt hoped he wouldn’t have to back up his threat any further. Then Blade moved, away from him, albeit with a distinctly unhappy look on his face. He didn’t say anything, instead crawling over and on to the bed.  
  
Matt watched him until he fell asleep, and then continued to watch him after that. He felt no desire to sleep himself.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
The grey light of dawn had been filtering though the partially closed curtains for a while, but it wasn’t until the sun rose, brightening the interior of the room considerably, that Matt stirred.  
  
He’d stayed awake all night, alternately staring at Blade and the wound on his arm, and simultaneously longing for and dreading the arrival of morning.  
  
And now morning had arrived, and there wasn’t really any putting it off any more.  
  
Stiffly, Matt rose from his chair, and made his way over to the window, glancing out for a few moments at the back garden and listening to the dawn chorus, muffled slightly by the glass.  
  
When he looked back to Blade, he discovered green eyes open and watching him.  
  
Matt tensed, suddenly realising he’d left his gun by the chair.  
  
“It’s okay.” Blade sounded slightly hoarse. “I’m me.”  
  
Matt felt relief flood through him, although he knew it would probably be short-lived. “How do you feel?” he asked cautiously.  
  
“Not as crap as last time,” replied Blade bluntly, sitting up. “Although I suspect that’s because I didn’t spend the night hunting and feasting on rodents.” He paused. “I didn’t, right?”  
  
“No,” Matt confirmed. But something in his voice obviously alerted Blade, and the other man narrowed his eyes.  
  
“What did I do?”  
  
Matt couldn’t help it – his gaze flicked down to the wound on his arm, and he knew instantly that Blade’s had too. He resisted the urge to put his arm behind his back.  
  
“Fuck,” said Blade. “I did that to you?”  
  
“I let you,” said Matt, deciding there was no use hiding it. It wouldn’t help, Blade thinking he’d attacked Matt.  
  
“You _let_ me?” Blade’s tone was dangerous. “You let me suck your blood. You fucking idiot, what the hell were you thinking?!”  
  
“I was thinking that I didn’t want you to die!” Matt blurted.  
  
“And what if you’re infected now? How do you think I feel, knowing I could have done that to you?”  
  
“It was my decision,” Matt argued. Then, “You didn’t see yourself,” he continued in a quieter voice. “I really thought that if you got any worse, you might not…make it.”  
  
“You don’t know that,” said Blade. “And how is having two of us like this any better?”  
  
“I feel fine!” Matt retorted.  
  
“So did I, at first,” Blade replied.  
  
They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Blade sighed, scrubbing a hand across his face. “We’ll have to go to the ARC now, won’t we?” he said. “We’ll have to tell them.”  
  
“Yes,” Matt said. “We should have told them before, I see that now. I’m sorry for making you go through that again.”  
  
“It’s all right. It was worth a try. But we need help now. _Especially_ now.”  
  
Matt nodded, and then smiled a weak smile. “Ditzy’s not going to be very happy with us, is he?”  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Matt sat in the isolation room, staring at the wall and cradling his newly stitched arm.  
  
The rest of anomaly team still hadn’t returned by the time he and Blade had reached the ARC, so they’d been forced to tell their tale to James Lester – an experience that had reminded Matt rather strongly of confessing his misdemeanours to his headmaster when he’d been at school.  
  
But they hadn’t actually got very far with the story before Matt’s inadvertent use of the words ‘unknown infection’ had caused Lester to get on the intercom to Lorraine, and only seconds later what appeared to be an entire medical team had shown up and whisked Blade away, Matt following more slowly in the company of the nurse who had escorted him to this room, and then proceeded to clean and stitch his wound.  
  
Blade was presumably in another isolation chamber, undergoing a battery of tests that Matt was quite surprised he hadn’t been subjected to himself yet. Lester had shown up shortly after the nurse had finished with Matt’s arm, and demanded, from the other side of the isolation glass, to be told about the rest of their ‘idiocy’, as he termed it. Matt had told him everything he could, and Lester had scowled, told him again in no uncertain terms what an utter imbecile he was, and left.  
  
Since then, no one else had been to see Matt, or subjected him to any further medical checks. He supposed they were all too busy with Blade.  
  
The hiss of the seals on the chamber door attracted Matt’s attention, and he looked round in time to see the door open, and Ditzy enter the room.  
  
Matt raised his eyebrows. The other medic wasn’t wearing any kind of biohazard suit – in fact, he was wearing civvies, as if he’d just stopped by to say hi on his way out of the building.  
  
“Not much point in an isolation chamber if you’re just going to waltz in here unprotected anyway,” Matt commented.  
  
“At this point I think we can be fairly sure there’s no airborne transmission,” Ditzy replied, betraying that he had obviously heard the whole story from someone. “If it were, Finn and Ross would almost certainly be infected by now, and neither of them have shown any symptoms.”  
  
“How long have you been back?” Matt asked.  
  
“About an hour, and stop trying to avoid the subject,” said Ditzy. He walked over to Matt, and stood in front of him, arms folded across his chest and a forbidding look on his face. “How could you be such a fucking twat, Rees?” he asked bluntly.  
  
“I don’t know,” replied Matt, after a pause. “But you’re absolutely right – I am a fucking twat.”  
  
Ditzy looked at him for a moment, and then sighed and sat down next to Matt on the narrow cot that would be serving as Matt’s bed for as long as he was confined to this room. “You’re just lucky I persuaded Ryan and Jacobs not come in here with me right now,” he said. “Both of them are out for your blood.”  
  
“They’re not the only ones,” said Matt without thinking, and then quirked a small smile at Ditzy’s expression. “Yes, I know, fucking twat – you don’t have to say it again.”  
  
“When they get their hands on you, I think you’ll be stuck on latrine duty for a year,” Ditzy continued. “And Blade too, most likely, once he’s better.”  
  
“So you think there’s a way to make him better, then?” Matt said, seizing on Ditzy’s words.  
  
“I don’t have a bloody clue at this point, mate,” Ditzy replied. “I’ve hardly had a chance to see him – I heard your sorry tale of woes from Lester.”  
  
“Oh.” Matt was silent for a moment. Then he eyed Ditzy apprehensively. “And what about you?” he asked. “What are you going to do to us?”  
  
“Oh, nothing much,” said Ditzy. “Just make sure I use the biggest, thickest needle I can find every time you need blood taking for the next _ten_ years. I’m also considering the judicious application of rectal thermometers every time the situation calls for it. And speaking of needles…”  
  
The nurse was back, waiting outside the window. When she caught Ditzy’s eye, she nodded, and Ditzy got up and walked over to the door, disappearing outside for a moment and then returning with a trolley of medical equipment.  
  
“We don’t think you’re generally contagious, but to be safe we’re limiting exposure to you and Blade. Which means you get the pleasure of having me perform all the necessary tests on you.”  
  
Ditzy smiled evilly, and held up one of the biggest needles Matt had ever seen. Matt sighed. He supposed he deserved this.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
“All right, mate?”  
  
Finn was standing on the other side of the glass, giving Matt what he probably thought was an encouraging smile.  
  
Matt grimaced. “Never better,” he said sarcastically, although secretly he was glad it was Finn out there, and not anyone else.  
  
The previous day, after Ditzy had finished doing all his tests (and removed what felt like to Matt every drop of blood he had that Blade hadn’t taken), Ryan and Jacobs had turned up after all, and given Matt the dressing down of his life. He’d actually suspected at one point that Jacobs would have quite happily strangled him if they hadn’t been separated by the window. And Ditzy had clearly been being optimistic when he’d predicted a year’s worth of latrine duty. Matt would be lucky if he got off so lightly.  
  
Then, when the two captains had finally run out of names to call him, and had left, Lester had reappeared, and demanded that Matt tell him everything all over again. Only this time he’d brought along an interested audience of Professor Cutter, Connor Temple, and Abby Maitland, and Matt had felt rather like a creature in a zoo, or perhaps a specimen under a microscope, as he’d gone through everything for the second time.  
  
He tried to ask how Blade was, but all Lester would say was that he was “under observation,” and it seemed Matt had to be content with that.  
  
He’d hoped Ditzy might come back (withering looks, huge needles, and freezing hands notwithstanding), and give him a more detailed report on Blade, but the other medic had failed to appear. And so had anyone else, barring the occasional member of the medical team, come to conduct yet _another_ test.  
  
Matt had barely slept that night, tossing and turning on the cot, unable to stop thinking about Blade, and whether his lover was going through the same hell as he had the previous two nights. What would Ditzy and others do if he was? Would they just leave him to suffer? Matt couldn’t imagine Lester letting anyone sacrifice themselves for Blade’s comfort like Matt had.  
  
It would have made sense for them to let Matt perform the same duty again. If he was already infected, it wouldn’t matter. And if he wasn’t…well, he didn’t care. He couldn’t bear to think of Blade suffering like that again.  
  
But even though he banged on the glass, and called out until he was hoarse, no one came, except to tell him to be quiet and go to sleep, and they wouldn’t listen to him when he tried to explain his idea.  
  
And now it was the next morning, and he was going _crazy_ with the not knowing.  
  
Matt moved quickly over to the window. “How’s Blade?” he asked, getting straight to the point.  
  
Finn looked uncertain. “He’s okay, I think,” he said. “He didn’t look too bad when I saw him earlier.”  
  
“Did he say anything about last night?”  
  
“Not as such, no.”  
  
“Well, why didn’t you ask him?” Matt snapped.  
  
Finn blinked at him. “I didn’t actually talk to him,” he said. “I just waved to him through the window.”  
  
“Fat lot of good you are,” Matt muttered.  
  
“Sorry, mate, I didn’t think…”  
  
“No, you never do, do you?”  
  
“Oi, there’s no reason to talk to him like that.”  
  
Ditzy had appeared behind Finn, and was giving Matt a disapproving look.  
  
“Well, if someone would just tell me what the bloody hell is going on with Blade, I wouldn’t have to, would I?”  
  
“My my, someone got out of the wrong side of bed this morning,” said Ditzy mildly.  
  
“Don’t bloody patronise me!”  
  
“Is something the matter with him?” Finn asked Ditzy, looking worried.  
  
“There’s nothing the matter with me,” said Matt.  
  
“Sure about that?” said Ditzy. “Just think for a minute, Rees. How do you actually _feel?_ ”  
  
“I feel _fine_ ,” responded Matt instantly. He could feel his frustration mounting, manifesting itself in a desire to lash out. He squeezed his hands into fists, wishing that Ditzy was inside the room so he could shake some answers out of him. Violently, if necessary.  
  
It was that impulse that finally clued him into the fact that he might not be as fine as he thought. He stared at Ditzy for a moment through the glass, the medic’s knowing expression making his hands twitch, and then all of a sudden he let his breath out in a rush as his whole body slumped.  
  
“Shit. I’m infected, aren’t I?”  
  
“So the test results tell me,” replied Ditzy.  
  
Finn’s eyes were wide as he placed a hand on the window. “Fuck, mate, I’m sorry.”  
  
Matt waved him away, and then gave in to the urge to lean forward and rest his forehead on the cool glass. “Shit,” he muttered again.  
  
“I’m coming in there,” Ditzy said. “Finn, make yourself scarce, will you? We don’t need an audience.”  
  
Finn looked unhappy about the dismissal, but nonetheless left as Ditzy made his way round to the door and entered the isolation room. Matt sat down on the cot, and Ditzy sat down on the chair opposite him.  
  
“So come on, doc, give me the bad news,” Matt said, attempting to lighten the atmosphere and failing miserably.  
  
“First tell me how you feel,” Ditzy countered. “How you _really_ feel.”  
  
“I feel like there’s a whole bunch of ants crawling around under my skin,” Matt admitted, remembering that Blade had said something similar. “And I feel like I _need_ something. It’s like I’m craving something.”  
  
“A hunger,” said Ditzy, nodding.  
  
“Not exactly,” said Matt, frowning in response. “That’s how Blade described it to me, but I reckon that’s only because he couldn’t work out how else to describe it. Like I can’t now. It’s just…a _need_ ,” he repeated.  
  
“Right.” Ditzy looked like he was filing away what Matt was saying for future use. “Anyway, here’s what we’ve learned from yours and Blade’s tests. There’s something in your blood – some kind of drug or toxin, _not_ a virus or bacteria – that’s making you act this way. We’re not one-hundred percent sure how the creature got it into Blade, but we think it must have been through saliva from the mouth being transferred when it bit him.”  
  
“Maybe it injected it like a snake injects venom from its teeth,” Matt offered.  
  
“We thought of that,” Ditzy replied. “But while that might have worked for the creature, it wouldn’t explain how Blade transferred it to you. He certainly hasn’t spontaneously grown a pair of long sharp fangs.”  
  
Ditzy’s attempt to lighten the mood fell as flat as Matt’s, and they both avoided each other’s eyes for a moment.  
  
“So what is this toxin doing to us?” Matt asked eventually. “What’s its purpose?”  
  
“That part we’re not sure of yet,” Ditzy said uncomfortably. “But we’re still working on it, I promise.”  
  
“We thought it might be related to procreation in some way,” Matt said hesitantly, not wanting to sound silly.  
  
Ditzy just looked at him. “I don’t think we’re living in a Bram Stoker novel _quite_ yet,” he said. Then he grimaced. “Although unfortunately we can’t completely ignore the idea.”  
  
“How’s Blade?” Matt asked, changing the subject and returning to the original, and most important, question.  
  
“He’s all right. He passed an uncomfortable, but not too horrendous, night.”  
  
“So not as bad as the previous two nights?” Matt asked, slightly puzzled.  
  
“No. We think – and he agrees – that what you did for him has staved off the worst effects of the toxin for a while,” Ditzy said. “We’re not sure why, and we’re not sure how long it’ll last, but at the moment he’s okay.”  
  
“Can I see him?” Matt said quickly.  
  
Ditzy shook his head. “Afraid not.”  
  
“Why not?” Matt narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “You must have established we’re not contagious unless we bite you by now, otherwise you and Finn and Ross wouldn’t still be wandering around wherever you like.”  
  
“Yes, well, unfortunately, we can’t let someone who might lose control and start running around biting people at any moment loose inside the ARC,” Ditzy pointed out.  
  
“But it took days for Blade to reach that point,” Matt argued. “I was infected less than thirty-six hours ago.”  
  
“Sorry, but Lester’s not willing to take any chances,” Ditzy replied.  
  
“Lester, of course. I might have known.”  
  
“Sorry,” said Ditzy again, standing up. “I’ll tell Blade you were asking after him.”  
  
“Yeah, thanks,” Matt muttered. “That really helps.”  
  
Ditzy just gave him a sympathetic look before he disappeared out of the door.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
The rest of that day seemed as interminably long as the previous one had. Finn reappeared about half an hour after Ditzy had left, this time with Ross in tow, but after a very short time Matt had sent them away again, as politely as he was able – he still had enough self-awareness to know that he wasn’t good company right now, for several reasons, and he didn’t really want his housemates to see him descending into the grip of whatever-the-hell this infection was.  
  
He felt a lot lonelier after they’d gone, though.  
  
Matt spent the better part of the rest of the day pacing up and down the isolation room, prowling like the caged animal he knew he was becoming. Ditzy stopped by twice more, both times with a spectacularly unhelpful ‘no progress to report yet’. The second time it took Matt several moments to realise that he’d flown at the glass and was beating his fists on it while yelling furiously that that wasn’t good enough, and why the fucking hell wouldn’t they let him see Blade?  
  
“Oh, fuck,” he swore, reeling backwards, away from Ditzy and the window, the second he realised what he was doing. “Sorry.”  
  
“Not your fault,” replied Ditzy.  
  
Matt looked at him. “It’s progressing faster with me, isn’t it? Niall was still pretty rational, if a bit short-tempered, at this point.”  
  
“Hard to say,” said Ditzy. “I don’t expect being cooped up in there is doing much to help matters.”  
  
“It feels like it is,” Matt insisted.  
  
“Don’t borrow trouble,” Ditzy told him. “Just try and stay calm. We’re working on it.”  
  
“Of course you are,” said Matt sourly, unable to regret the sarcasm even when he saw the look on Ditzy’s face. “Just go away and leave me alone. And don’t come back until you can tell me something _useful_ ,” he added, shouting at Ditzy’s retreating back.  
  
It wasn’t until Ditzy had vanished that he realised he’d forgotten to ask again how Blade was.  
  
Sleep was entirely absent that night. Matt felt like something was clawing at his insides, trying to get out, and he continued to pace round and round his prison, itching to get his hands on something, although he wasn’t quite sure _what_.  
  
And when Ditzy did come back, the following morning, Matt immediately knew he wasn’t the only one who’d had a bad night.  
  
“How’s Blade?” he asked immediately, shoving down the beast that seemed to be attempting to force its way up his throat.  
  
“Not great,” Ditzy said, his face saying everything his words didn’t. “He says it still wasn’t as bad as those other nights, but that it’s definitely getting worse again.”  
  
“Shit.”  
  
“I have other news – good, I hope – to tell you as well, though. I’m coming in there.”  
  
“Better not,” Matt forced out. “I can’t guarantee you’d be safe at this point.”  
  
Ditzy only response to that was a raised eyebrow, then he nodded. “All right, then.”  
  
“So what’s the good news?” Matt asked.  
  
“We think we may have worked out what’s wrong with you. What the toxin is doing to you.”  
  
“Oh.”  
  
Ditzy smiled ruefully. “It turns out that your idea about procreation wasn’t so far off the mark after all.”  
  
“What? You mean…?”  
  
“Oh no, not that,” Ditzy said hastily. “Sorry, no. No Nosferatu stuff going on here. But the ARC’s scientists have been working on all the samples they took from you and Blade, testing them and such, and they’ve worked out that the toxin in your bloodstream is meant to make you receptive to mating.” Ditzy smiled again, seemingly unable to stop himself. “Basically, you and Blade are in heat.”


	4. Chapter 4

  
“Basically, you and Blade are in heat.”  
  
“You _are_ joking?”  
  
“Nope.” Ditzy was still smiling. “Essentially, you’re both desperate to get your rocks off.”  
  
“It’s not funny,” Matt said sharply.  
  
Ditzy’s grin died. “No, of course not,” he said. “Sorry, mate.”  
  
Matt waved the apology away. “Explain,” he said, in a tight voice. “ _Properly_.”  
  
“All right. But bear in mind this is still just a theory, albeit one we’re reasonably sure about.”  
  
“Just _explain_.”  
  
“Well, what we think would normally happen is that one of the creatures we encountered – we don’t know if that one was a male or female, of course – bites another of the member of the species, maybe as part of a mating ritual or something, and transfers a substance into them that stimulates the reproductive cycle and makes them receptive to breeding. More than receptive, actually – we think it brings on the breeding…urge, if you like, essentially meaning they _have_ to mate.”  
  
“So when Blade was originally bitten, that monstrosity thought it was biting one of its own kind?” said Matt, somewhat disbelievingly.  
  
“I doubt it,” replied Ditzy. “But if the creature already had this substance in its body ready to transfer – perhaps we encountered it in the middle of its mating season – then it might have exposed Blade to the substance by accident, when it was acting purely in self-defence.”  
  
“Okay,” said Matt slowly, thinking it through. “I’ll buy that. Niall’s been infected by this substance, bringing on the mating urge, which he then had to satisfy.”  
  
“That’s what we think,” said Ditzy, nodding. “Obviously, when it comes to the creatures themselves, one would put the other in the receptive state and then they’d mate, end of story. But of course, neither you or Niall knew what was happening to him, so you, er, didn’t…”  
  
“Mate,” Matt finished helpfully, taking a rather malicious pleasure in the suddenly uncomfortable expression on Ditzy’s face. “Yeah, Niall didn’t really seem to be in the mood for it, you know? And actually, it took him rather a while to get to the point where he was ‘desperate’. That doesn’t strike me as a particularly efficient way to mate, if you have to wait several days for it to properly take effect. One party could wander off at any time.”  
  
“Yeah, we’re not too certain about that bit,” Ditzy admitted. “Abby speculated that there might have been more bonding or mating rituals that the creatures engaged in while waiting for the urges to manifest.”  
  
“They didn’t really look like the kind of creatures that would ‘bond’, if you ask me,” Matt said.  
  
“Funnily enough, some other people said that too,” Ditzy replied. “Of course, it could be that the substance works much faster on the creatures it’s intended for, and Blade’s unfamiliar human physiology skewed the effects a bit. That seems most likely to me.”  
  
“So Blade’s infected with this mating urge,” Matt said, feeling like the conversation had gone on far too long already, but knowing rationally that he needed to understand this, “which finally becomes to strong to keep under control. So why the hell didn’t he just mate with someone? With…me? Why go around biting things?”  
  
“Instinct, probably. The substance doesn’t just bring on the mating urge, it makes the body, presumably of the female under normal circumstances, ready to reproduce. Blade’s instincts, affected by the substance and his urges, were telling him he needed to bite his intended mate first to make them fully ready.”  
  
“But he’s a bloke and I’m a bloke,” Matt pointed out. “We _can’t_ reproduce, no matter what our instincts might be telling us to do.”  
  
“That’s another point in favour of the ‘substance is affecting you slightly differently because you’re human’ argument,” Ditzy said. “Yes, there’s a need to mate, and yes, Blade’s instincts were telling him he had to bite his chosen partner _before_ mating with them, but other than that his instincts didn’t seem to have been too choosy about _who_ he bit. It’s possible that, having kept himself under control for so long, and not letting those instincts have free reign, it had got to the point where it was either mate or die. And therefore it didn’t particularly matter who he mated with, and whether that mating would actually result in procreation. You said he was in a lot of pain that night you let him…use you.”  
  
“Niall might die?” Matt said, suddenly unable to focus on anything else.  
  
Ditzy didn’t answer, but his silence spoke volumes.  
  
“Fucking hell. We’ve got to _do_ something.”  
  
“We will,” Ditzy replied. “Or rather, _you_ will. We hope.”  
  
Matt knew what he meant instantly. “Of course I bloody will,” he snapped. Then his lips twisted in a wry smile. “Niall needs to satisfy his mating instinct, and I am the best candidate to help him with that, after all.”  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
“This is weird,” said Blade flatly.  
  
Matt looked at him from across the room and nodded. It _was_ weird.  
  
He’d been brought to Blade’s isolation chamber under armed guard (Lester had stopped short of insisting on chains, but he was making damn sure Matt didn’t take it into his head to ‘run amok’, as Ditzy had quoted it), shepherded inside, and then the pair of them had been left alone to…get on with things.  
  
But something was stopping them. Matt caught Blade glancing across at the observation window. Everyone was gone, no one was looking in at them through the glass, but still…  
  
“It feels like they’re still watching, doesn’t it?” he commented.  
  
“Technically, they are,” Blade replied, switching his attention from the window to the security camera mounted high up in one corner of the room.  
  
Matt’s eyes followed his gaze. “We could switch it off or disable it somehow,” he offered.  
  
“Because that wouldn’t bring every man and his dog haring back here in the blink of an eye,” Blade said.  
  
“Good point. I guess we should try not to think about it, then.”  
  
“No,” Blade agreed.  
  
Neither of them moved.  
  
“How do we know this even going to work, anyway?” Blade asked.  
  
“I suppose we don’t, not for certain,” Matt replied. Ditzy had confessed as much to him before they’d left Matt’s room. The theory went that the chemicals released into the bloodstream during sex would do something to counteract the foreign substance that was influencing them, but no one was completely certain about that. But as the medic had repeated several times, it was the next logical step to take, and was preferable in everybody’s eyes to more tests and experimenting with other drugs and treatments.  
  
Matt suspected that Blade knew all this – that Ditzy had told him everything before he’d told Matt. He also suspected Blade was trying to prolong the conversation to delay the inevitable. Matt would have been offended, except he was trying to do the same thing.  
  
They’d barely touched since Blade had originally been let out of the infirmary the first time, days and days ago. And what contact they’d had, had been restricted to what was necessary when Blade had been weak and sick, and to that night when…  
  
“I mean, the other night, when…when I _bit_ you, it didn’t cure me permanently,” Blade said, interrupting Matt’s train of thought and leaving him wondering whether Blade could actually read his mind.  
  
“You didn’t bite me,” Matt pointed out. “Also, no sex,” he added. “There has to be sex.” He was aiming for a bit of levity, but suspected he’d missed the mark by a country mile.  
  
“So why did I feel better?” said Blade  
  
“Well, Ditzy reckons…”  
  
“Oh, _Ditzy_ reckons,” muttered Blade, and this time Matt did smile a little.  
  
He was heartened to see Blade’s lips twitch slightly too.  
  
“Ditzy reckons,” repeated Matt firmly, “that what happened sort of ‘fooled’ your body into thinking it was going to mate soon, so you felt a bit better. You became a bit less wild straight away after what happened, and although you weren’t too pleased at being thwarted, you didn’t try and attack me or anything. And you certainly weren’t in as much pain. It appears that your body was preparing you to mate – it would have been a bit difficult for you in the state you were in previously – but then when you didn’t, those effects started wearing off, and you got worse again.” Belatedly, he thought to ask Blade something. “How are you now, anyway? Ditzy said you didn’t have a good night, but that it wasn’t as bad as before.”  
  
“It wasn’t,” Blade confirmed. “And I’m not too bad now. It never was as bad during the day, remember? But I’m not looking forward to tonight,” he added.  
  
“It’s not going to get that far again,” Matt said. “I won’t let it.” He looked at Blade, his lover. “We have to do this,” he continued. “I think Ditzy’s right. I think this will help.”  
  
“But…”  
  
“But what?”  
  
“But what if I hurt you?” said Blade bluntly. “I feel okay now, but we don’t know how powerful this mating instinct might be once I give into it. For fuck’s sake, Matt, by your own account, it was only the fact that you had a gun the other night that stopped me from just taking what I wanted!”  
  
“You won’t hurt me,” Matt asserted quietly. “I know you won’t. And besides, you’re forgetting that you’re not the only one with the instinct now. I suspect I’ll be able to hold my own.”  
  
Blade looked miserable at the reminder of what he’d inflicted on Matt, and Matt continued quickly.  
  
“We _have_ to do this, Niall. As I see it, we have no other choice. Do you really find the idea so horrible?”  
  
“No,” said Blade. “That’s the problem. I don’t find it horrible at all.”  
  
Matt felt the tension in his body twang at Blade’s words – tension that he realised he’d been trying to keep in check ever since he’d entered the room. And he suddenly realised that Blade was feeling exactly the same tension – tension born of trying not to simply give in to the urge flowing through their veins.  
  
Someone had to make the first move. Matt hesitated for one more moment, and then gave in. He left his position by the door and walked over to Blade, deliberately crowding into the other man’s personal space until he could feel the air from Blade’s harsh breaths ghosting over his face and smell the musky scent of Blade’s suddenly painfully obvious arousal.  
  
“Niall…” he began, but didn’t get any further.  
  
Blade grabbed him and smashed their mouths together in a kiss that was all force and little finesse. Matt felt one of Blade’s teeth cut into his lip, and then felt Blade’s tongue lapping eagerly at the droplets of blood that welled up there.  
  
He hissed, but not in pain, and forced Blade back against the wall, hands gripping Blade’s upper arms hard enough that he knew dimly, in some corner of his brain that he wasn’t really paying much attention to right now, there would be finger-shaped bruises there tomorrow.  
  
Blade growled, his own hands coming up to close around the back of Matt’s skull, holding his head in place as he plundered Matt’s mouth. Matt could feel the hard length of Blade’s cock pressing against his hip, and he rubbed up against the other man shamelessly, the friction sending sparks of sensation to his own cock at the same time.  
  
They rutted together for several moments, until Blade muttered something in between kisses that sounded like, “Not _enough_ ,” and his hands slid down the back of Matt’s neck so that his fingers could grab at the collar of Matt’s t-shirt and pull.  
  
There was a tearing sound, and then Matt felt cool air on his back. He choked out a laugh. “You’ve fucking well ripped my…” But then Blade was kissing him again, and suddenly it didn’t seem quite so important that he’d just had his shirt torn off his body.  
  
Blade’s grip moved lower still until he was cupping Matt’s buttocks. Matt tried to grind himself against Blade again, but all of a sudden Blade was moving them, pushing away from the wall and turning them. He broke off their kissing as he did so, and Matt caught a glimpse of his eyes, green irises all but subsumed by blown pupils, making them look dark and feral.  
  
A frisson of something that this time owed nothing to fear went through him, and his cock twitched.  
  
Then Blade was spinning him, pushing him face first back towards the wall. Matt put his hands out just in time to brace himself, and Blade made an approving noise as he made short of work of the fastenings on Matt’s combats, and then unceremoniously pushed them down until they were in a puddle on the floor around Matt’s ankles.  
  
Someone (probably Ditzy) had thoughtfully left some supplies on the table in the form of lube and condoms, but they were both too far gone to care about the niceties now. Blade spat, and seconds later two fingers slick with saliva were pressing inexorably into Matt’s arse. He tried to relax even as he eagerly pushed back, welcoming the intrusion despite the sharp burn, and desperate for more.  
  
Blade thrust his fingers in and out of Matt’s body a few times in the most perfunctory of preparations, and then removed them, to the accompaniment of a keen of loss from Matt. Matt heard Blade spit again, and then he felt his cheeks being spread slightly, and the blunt head of Blade’s cock start to push into him.  
  
It hurt more than the rudimentary preparation had, but Matt wanted more anyway, and said so, several times. Blade’s cock was barely lubricated, and he wasn’t being gentle, but it still felt fucking fantastic, and Matt knew this was what he’d been craving ever since Blade had put this urge into his blood stream.  
  
Blade’s breath was hot on the side of Matt’s neck as he bottomed out, and Matt revelled in the feeling of being stretched around his lover’s cock again. They remained still for a split second, and then Blade growled one word possessively in Matt’s ear.  
  
“Mine.”  
  
Matt felt that possessiveness take hold of him, wrapping him in its influence, and he nodded.  
  
“Yours.”  
  
Then Blade was moving suddenly, pounding into him with enough force to threaten the rigidity of Matt’s arms as they kept him braced away from the wall. His cock dragged at Matt’s flesh, but the pain was swamped by the pure bursts of pleasure that danced along his nerve endings every time Blade nailed his prostate.  
  
Or perhaps the pain was contributing to the pleasure – Matt couldn’t tell any more. All he knew was that he wanted more, and harder, and deeper.  
  
Blade was grunting with the effort he was putting in, and it was obvious that this wasn’t going to last long. Matt felt as if some wild creature had been released inside him, and was roaring its triumph at finally getting what it wanted, and he knew that Blade must be feeling the same – only ten times more intensely if what he’d experienced over the past days was anything to go by.  
  
With a noise that could only be described as a howl, Blade came, although his pace barely slackened as he drove his climax into Matt’s body. It was enough to trigger Matt’s own orgasm, and as his cock shot white ropes of come over the wall, he felt sensation and pleasure sweep over him in a bright, burning wave.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Matt stirred, and then blinked once or twice before realising that the reason he couldn’t really see much was that he was facing the wall – in fact, his nose was all but pressed against it as he lay on the cot.  
  
His next realisation was that he was all but cocooned by the body of another person, who was curled almost completely round him. There was an arm holding him tightly, but not uncomfortably, around his waist, and his legs were tangled up in another pair of said limbs, pretty effectively rendering him immobile.  
  
But since the identity of this limpet-like person wasn’t really in doubt, Matt wasn’t particularly worried by his inability to move. Instead, he smiled.  
  
“You’re awake,” Blade murmured, having apparently developed psychic powers.  
  
“Good morning to you too,” Matt replied. “At least… _is_ it morning?”  
  
“Haven’t a clue,” said Blade. “I seem to have mislaid my watch somewhere.”  
  
Matt chuckled, and pressed back into Blade’s embrace a little more. Then he rather wished he hadn’t, as Blade’s morning erection rubbed up against a somewhat delicate and abused portion of Matt’s anatomy.  
  
Blade didn’t miss his flinch. “You’ll have to get Ditzy to have a look at that,” he commented, concern colouring his voice.  
  
“I know,” said Matt, sighing. “I definitely foresee latex gloves and antiseptic cream in my future.”  
  
That drew an unwilling laugh from Blade, and Matt sighed again.  
  
“And by the way, if you even think about saying you’re sorry, they’ll never find your body.”  
  
Blade was silent for a moment or two, and then asked cautiously, “So how do you feel, anyway?”  
  
Matt thought about it. “Good,” he said. “Great, actually, apart from, you know, the obvious. What about you?”  
  
“Better than I have for days,” Blade replied candidly. “Do you think it’s…gone?”  
  
“I’m not sure. Are you feeling any urges? Any desire to mate?”  
  
Blade hesitated briefly. “Well, yes, actually,” he confessed. “Although let’s face it, that’s not necessarily down to any malign influences.” He nuzzled at the side of Matt’s neck, and Matt wondered if he could twist his head round far enough to kiss his lover.  
  
Then he gasped as Blade’s chin pressed against a tender spot at the junction of his neck and shoulder.  
  
“What? What is it?”  
  
“I think I might be discovering bruises in odd places for the next day or two,” Matt said.  
  
He felt Blade shift his head, obviously looking at the damage. “It looks like I bit you,” he said quietly. “Although the skin isn’t broken. I think I’ve… _marked_ you.”  
  
“Do you remember doing it?” Matt asked, trying not to betray that he found the idea something of a turn-on.  
  
“No. Do you?”  
  
“No,” said Matt. Although as he spoke he had a sudden flash of recall – of Blade’s teeth sinking into his skin to muffle a cry as he came. His cock twitched.  
  
“My memory’s definitely a bit fuzzy,” Blade confessed. “I don’t remember how we got to the bed, either.”  
  
Matt frowned a little as he concentrated on digging further into his memories. He could only really clearly remember their first enthusiastic coupling, although he sensed that had only been the start of their activities, the urge had been so strong in both of them. But as he thought more, he seemed to recall, after that first spectacular orgasm, Blade pulling free and going to his knees, and then the sting as Blade’s tongue had cleaned him, lapping around his abused hole. His arse throbbed in sympathy with the memory, even as his cock twitched again.  
  
After that, though, it was all a bit of a blur, albeit a pleasant one.  
  
“I think we’re just going to have to assume we gave our audience quite a show, and leave it at that,” he said ruefully.  
  
Fan-fucking-tastic,” sighed Blade, although there was amusement in his voice too. Then he asked neutrally, “Want me to do something about that?”  
  
“Thought you’d never ask,” Matt replied, the last word ending on a groan as Blade’s hand curled around his now fully erect cock.  
  
There wasn’t much room to work in, with Matt being so close to the wall in order to leave space for Blade too on the narrow cot, and Matt was forcing himself not to thrust into Blade’s grip, knowing that the movement wouldn’t be particularly welcomed by other parts of his body. But Blade’s callused palm still felt fabulous against the silky skin of Matt’s cock, and it wasn’t long before he mewled out his orgasm, one of several he suspected he’d had over the past few hours.  
  
Matt was about to turn over, bruised and battered body be damned, to return the favour, when there was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them.  
  
“I think the latex gloves have arrived,” Blade observed. He pressed a quick kiss to the side of Matt’s neck, and then rolled away off the cot in one smooth movement.  
  
Matt followed rather more slowly, levering himself upright gingerly, unable to entirely suppress the odd wince.  
  
Ditzy was standing on the other side of the observation window, leering at them in an obvious effort to disguise his concern.  
  
“How are you two doing?” he asked. “Worn yourselves out yet?”  
  
Blade flipped him the finger, but answered at the same time. “We’re feeling pretty good,” he said.  
  
“Rees?”  
  
“A few aches and pains, but apart from that, much better,” Matt replied.  
  
Ditzy’s eyes swept over his body. “You’re looking a little bit the worse for wear. I’d better…”  
  
“Check me over, I know,” Matt finished for him, ignoring Blade’s knowing look. “Looking forward to it.”  
  
Ditzy had the grace to look apologetic, and then his expression turned a bit more serious. “So you’re really feeling better?” he said. “No urges now?”  
  
Matt and Blade looked at each other. “I wouldn’t like to swear that it’s gone completely yet,” Blade said slowly. “But the instinct feels like it’s been properly sated this time. I feel satisfied.”  
  
“Me too,” Matt added.  
  
Ditzy nodded. “Good, that’s good. And I wouldn’t be surprised to learn it _hasn’t_ gone completely yet. You denied it and staved it off for so long – particularly you, Blade – that it probably took far more a hold on your bodies than it would normally do.”  
  
“Meaning we’ll be staying in here for a while longer,” Matt concluded.  
  
“Exactly,” said Ditzy. “Sorry.”  
  
“No, it’s the sensible thing to do,” Matt said. “Although…you will be letting us stay together, right?”  
  
“You can’t really work off any lingering effects if you’re not together, can you?” Ditzy said, the leer making a brief reappearance. “And I don’t think you’re a danger to each other now. _But_ ,” he continued, eyeing Matt, “don’t think this means you’re getting out of that examination. “I’ll be in there in a bit to look at both of you.”  
  
“Damn,” said Matt, although he and Blade were both grinning.  
  
“You’ll be in there for another night at least,” Ditzy said. “And then tomorrow we’ll assess the situation again.”  
  
“So it is morning now?” Blade asked. “It’s nearly a day since you brought Matt in here?”  
  
“Yes,” Ditzy confirmed.  
  
“Wow,” said Matt. “We really lost track of time there.”  
  
Ditzy grinned. “I’m told by the guys keeping an eye on the camera feeds that your activities went on for quite a while,” he said. “But you’ve been asleep for the best part of fifteen hours. It’s not surprising really, considering what you’ve been through in the past few days.”  
  
“That confirms it then,” said Blade. “Most of the effects of the mating instinct must have been mitigated. The nights were always the worse, but I didn’t feel anything last night. I slept soundly.”  
  
Matt nodded in agreement, silently grateful that there _wouldn’t_ be any more nights like those awful ones they’d experienced. Then he thought of something. “But _why_ were the nights always the worst, though?” he asked. “We never figured that part out.”  
  
“Abby thinks she has,” Ditzy replied. “It’s quite simple really. The creatures are probably nocturnal – the feed from Connor’s moon rover showed that it was night on the other side of the anomaly, and the creature we were dealing with was extremely active at that point.”  
  
“ _Extremely_ ,” Matt confirmed, suppressing a shudder as he remembered once again the monster leaping on to Blade.  
  
“Well, it makes sense that if the creatures are nocturnal, the mating urges would be stronger at night,” Ditzy said. “We still don’t know if the creatures would mate as soon as one had bitten the other, or whether the mating process was more prolonged. But if it was the latter, and they didn’t actually mate until a few nights afterwards, then it would make sense that the urge was less during the day, allowing the animals to rest.”  
  
“And we’re back to the ‘v’ word,” Blade sighed. “Sleeping during the day, active at night, biting their fellow creatures to propagate the species…” But he was smiling as he spoke, and Ditzy laughed.  
  
“Yes, well, hopefully neither of you will have to worry about that any more. Now, I’m going to get my equipment, and then I’ll be back.”  
  
“With breakfast too?” Blade asked hopefully. “I’m starving.”  
  
Matt’s stomach growled loudly at the word ‘breakfast’, and Ditzy laughed again.  
  
“I’ll see what I can do,” he promised. “Don’t go anywhere, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”  
  
“I think those two things are mutually incompatible,” Blade commented, after Ditzy had disappeared.  
  
Matt frowned slightly. Blade tilted his head, an expression of concern crossing his features.  
  
“What’s the matter?”  
  
“Nothing. I just…”  
  
Blade was in front of him in an instant, his arms sliding round Matt’s waist. “Shit, what is it? Are you in pain? I bloody did something to you yesterday, didn’t I? Something you’re not telling me…”  
  
“Shut up, Niall,” Matt said firmly, and then backed up his words by kissing his lover, halting Blade in mid-flow. “I feel like I haven’t seen you for weeks, that’s all,” he continued, when they finally broke apart. “I feel like I’ve finally got you back.” Then he pulled a face. “Christ, that sounds really sappy.”  
  
“A bit, yeah,” Blade said. Then he smiled. “But I know what you mean.”  
  
Matt kissed him again. “Welcome back, Niall,” he murmured against his lover’s lips.


End file.
